When to plant in Chualar, CA

Planting dates worked out from Chualar's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Frost is rare in Chualar: in 12 of the last 30 springs there was none at all. Frost dates matter less here than heat, so the planting table below is left out.

Safe to plant out

Mar 1

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Jan 23

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Dec 12

1 year in 10 by Nov 24

Frost-free days

324

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Salinas Ap · 13.1 km away · station 22 m, town 35 m. How we match towns to stations

Chualar's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1931	Feb 21
1932	Apr 8
1933	Apr 30
1934	Apr 3
1935	Mar 27
1936	Apr 1
1937	Apr 23
1938	Mar 17
1939	Mar 1
1940	Mar 12
1942	Mar 26
1943	Feb 9
1944	Mar 27
1945	Apr 4
1947	Jan 19
1948	Mar 4
1949	Feb 15
1950	Mar 12
1951	Mar 10
1952	Mar 20
1953	Mar 14
1954	Mar 13
1955	Mar 2
1956	Mar 12
1957	Feb 4
1960	Jan 13
1961	Jan 15
1962	Feb 28
1963	Mar 4
1964	Mar 8
1965	Feb 16
1966	Mar 17
1967	Mar 5
1968	Jan 11
1969	Jan 31
1970	Feb 20
1971	Mar 7
1973	Jan 7
1974	Jan 2
1975	Feb 22
1976	Mar 3
1977	Mar 14
1979	Feb 3
1980	Jan 19
1982	Feb 24
1984	Jan 13
1985	Feb 10
1986	Feb 9
1987	Feb 26
1988	Feb 3
1989	Feb 7
1990	Feb 19
1991	Jan 29
1993	Jan 4
1994	Feb 14
1997	Mar 4
1999	Feb 2
2000	Jan 6
2001	Feb 8
2002	Mar 8
2004	Jan 4
2006	Feb 21
2007	Mar 1
2008	Feb 5
2009	Mar 10
2011	Feb 27
2012	Jan 18
2013	Jan 15
2018	Feb 24
2020	Feb 5
2022	Feb 24

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1931	260
1932	208
1933	202
1934	241
1935	208
1936	242
1937	246
1938	234
1939	231
1940	254
1941	320
1942	223
1943	297
1944	242
1945	251
1947	297
1948	267
1949	298
1950	293
1951	271
1952	248
1953	285
1954	287
1955	301
1956	269
1957	329
1960	326
1961	304
1962	303
1963	281
1964	252
1965	301
1966	282
1967	270
1968	326
1969	331
1970	313
1971	231
1972	337
1973	357
1974	354
1975	279
1976	295
1977	250
1978	339
1979	310
1980	322
1981	363
1982	308
1983	363
1984	351
1985	281
1986	293
1987	290
1988	314
1989	326
1990	280
1991	305
1992	350
1993	323
1994	277
1995	363
1996	335
1997	293
1998	337
1999	308
2000	357
2001	325
2002	289
2003	324
2004	321
2005	329
2006	275
2007	282
2008	314
2009	270
2010	327
2011	283
2012	334
2013	322
2014	363
2015	358
2016	350
2017	337
2018	309
2019	363
2020	328
2021	363
2022	309
2023	363
2024	363

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1931	15.9 °C
1932	14.7 °C
1933	14.6 °C
1934	16.8 °C
1935	15.6 °C
1936	16.0 °C
1937	16.2 °C
1938	16.0 °C
1939	15.6 °C
1940	16.0 °C
1941	16.1 °C
1942	15.1 °C
1943	15.4 °C
1944	14.9 °C
1945	15.5 °C
1947	16.8 °C
1948	15.7 °C
1949	15.9 °C
1950	15.8 °C
1951	15.5 °C
1952	16.1 °C
1953	15.7 °C
1954	16.1 °C
1955	14.9 °C
1956	15.9 °C
1957	16.5 °C
1960	15.7 °C
1961	16.2 °C
1962	15.4 °C
1963	16.2 °C
1964	15.5 °C
1965	15.3 °C
1966	15.9 °C
1967	14.7 °C
1968	15.3 °C
1969	14.8 °C
1970	15.3 °C
1971	15.2 °C
1972	16.4 °C
1973	16.3 °C
1974	16.6 °C
1975	15.3 °C
1976	16.1 °C
1977	15.1 °C
1978	16.7 °C
1979	17.0 °C
1980	15.9 °C
1981	15.8 °C
1982	14.4 °C
1983	18.1 °C
1984	17.5 °C
1985	16.7 °C
1986	15.9 °C
1987	16.3 °C
1988	16.6 °C
1989	16.3 °C
1990	16.9 °C
1991	15.5 °C
1992	17.5 °C
1993	16.9 °C
1994	15.8 °C
1995	16.8 °C
1996	16.8 °C
1997	17.5 °C
1998	16.2 °C
1999	15.1 °C
2000	16.3 °C
2001	15.9 °C
2002	15.6 °C
2003	16.4 °C
2004	16.8 °C
2005	16.0 °C
2006	16.3 °C
2007	16.0 °C
2008	16.0 °C
2009	16.3 °C
2010	15.5 °C
2011	16.0 °C
2012	16.1 °C
2013	16.8 °C
2014	17.3 °C
2015	17.7 °C
2016	16.6 °C
2017	17.2 °C
2018	16.2 °C
2019	17.6 °C
2020	17.8 °C
2022	18.1 °C
2023	17.0 °C
2024	16.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1931, Chualar's last spring frost has come about 5 days earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 10 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Salinas Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Gonzales Salinas Boronda Carmel Valley Village Soledad Prunedale